Tune Out the Financial Static, Turn On to the 2016 Investor Guide
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The State Securities Board’s newest version of the Texas Investor Guide has landed, bigger and better than ever.
The 2016 edition of the Texas Investor Guide: Strategies for Investing Wisely and Avoiding Financial Fraud, has been substantially revised and expanded to help investors – beginning and more experienced – understand the time-tested principles of investing and how to avoid fraud and inappropriate investments.
With the gradual decline of traditional pensions, and the possibility that Social Security may increasingly replace less of the income a retiree earned while working, investors today have more responsibility than ever for achieving their financial goals.
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Making investment decisions, however, is difficult in this time of complex investment products, heavily promoted “surefire” strategies, and media commentaries that can make investing feel like a frenetic game.
The Investor Guide cuts through financial clutter with jargon-free explanations of:
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Investing for growth – although investing always carries risk, it’s hard to achieve your financial goals otherwise;
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The basics of mutual funds, including target date funds, and how to invest in them;
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Asset classes such as stocks, bonds, CDs, real estate, and cash, and how they generally differ in risk and performance;
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The balance between risk and return and strategies to minimize – not eliminate – risk;
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Understanding and controlling the cost of investments;
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Putting together the pieces of a secure retirement, including IRAs, 401(k)s, and knowing the strategies of claiming Social Security benefits;
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Avoiding scams and high-risk investments, complete with ripped-from-our case-files examples of fraud; and
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Increasing the odds of finding a financial professional you can trust.
Additionally, there are now articles available that amplify and expand upon the topics in the Investor Guide.
The State Securities Board provides other print and online publications for the investing public, as well as a list of the top investor resources from state and federal entities.
Print copies of the Investor Guide are available on request. Contact Robert Elder, Communications & Investor Education Coordinator, at relder@ssb.texas.gov.
